Catching up

Some of my works completed and in progress.

My work this month

This month I have finally completed the African Flower blanket and sent it to my daughter.

I commenced a colourful one that is very similar to one I made last year.

This one-Calypso Stripes

....and to add to the many other WIPs, I have I played with some cotton.

Will I make this into a tablecloth for one of my side tables or large enough to be a spread?

Ines

My Goodtime girls

My girls have always given me lots of fun and joy. They have always had a great relationship in spite of the 9 years difference in ages. I found these scanned photos on one of the CDs I was reading. These photos bring back many happy memories. Here they are dressed up for a Bed Sale Advertisement.

....and a witch dressup.

...and a formal photo

...and one I managed to take of the 2 of them together about 2 years ago.

Ciao Ines

April Yarns

I have had some fun making squares for SIBOL over at http://suesfavouritethings.blogspot.com/ .
Check her work and I promise you will be awed by her beautiful work . What a Lady! I am full of admiration.
It has been exciting because every square is a different adventure. I have also dug in my "spare squares" stash and added a row or 2 to make them 6 inches.  Here are my squares .... I missed the first round so I have the flower theme in mind for this lot. Sue, if you read this, I hope you do not mind that I have added them to my blog. I have just discovered the new editor feature and I am excited.

First set:

                                                                                   2nd set:

3rd set

4th set... this set includes squares that I made a few years ago and just stored them in my treasure stash.

Crocheting has been the name of the game these last 2 weeks. I am fortunate that I have many passions as I find that I can control my stress in this manner.

As I claim to be a multi starter, I always have many projects that I am working on ,and quite frequently, I will abort the work and pick up something I began 2 years ago. I pack each project in zip bags and I have now accepted my mode of work.

This baby blanket was once a 3/4 completed pillow that I remodelled. I had 8 small squares made...4 roses and 4 plain. The plain was used up to add rows to the rose motif and it sort of happened from there. I do have a baby in mind.... now I am prepared for a boy or a girl. The boy blanket I made last year.

Now, as I was saying, my baby was home for a week and ordered a new blanket. So once again I went to the UFO stash and found something I was never going to finish. I was not in a right state of mind when I bought the variegated brown yarn. What was I thinking??? After a few colour combinations, I was delighted she chose this ugly yarn. She suggested a black outline to make it look somewhat faux retro. I am progressing and hope to complete it soon. My aim is to make it huge so I can rid myself of this colour.

My blanket that I plan to have on my bed this winter is on hold until I complete the above. I do work diligently until I complete a blanket if it is for a reason.... in this case for my daughter. This is the one that had my daughter expressing her wish to have  a new blanket.

Bethel of Bethania I could hug you. You have made my day as I had lost hope that anyone would leave a comment on my blog. Thank you. Yes, I do live in the same state; I am in Cairns so your garden plants mirror mine. I was so enegetic today...What is wrong with me??? I grabbed the opportunity to repot and generally tidy the patio. I also stretched myself to do some weeding. Alas, my energy battery suddenly went flat and my back was protesting so I am now sitting here writing this, sipping an iced tea. After this I may just crochet again. What a life!!!! ....until next Monday when it is back to work.

This is it for today..... Ciao!!

Ines

Adventures in April

Angels and birds watch over my home. The birds are missing... where are they? I remember now. I had given them a clean and had not returned them to this sunny corner.

Lampshades' first coat of white paint.
These were a pain to paint but in the end I did not worry if some brown stain showed. The overall effect is a big improvement.

I have been on school holidays and have revitalised my energy. I always plan to do so much and never seem to achieve all that I want to do. This week I finally made a decision about my 80s light shades. Iwish I had taken a photo before I began the project. Just imagine the look of that era with tassels. I ripped the tassels off, scrubbed the shade and began giving them a white paint coat. Now, I could well see my way to a lighing shop to purchase new ones but I love these and I am determined that they will live for a few more years in my home. They now hang and already I have had a few comments from friends who admired them. The consensus is that the shades are very shabby chic.

The patio area really needs some attention and with the heavy rain we have had my garden has become a jungle again. This is next on the list. I did manage to sew new cushion covers for the wicker chairs.

I bought the wicker set of chairs from a secondhand place and they had been painted grey and the cushions were dark purple. The cushions are now an aqua colour with a chocolate pattern.

I painted the wicker white.

My garden needs some TLC and I need to repot some pots.

My youngest daugther spent a week at home. She has now returned to Uni in Brisbane and I miss her.

This is my baby when she turned 18 in November.

INES

The colour of March

I have been very busy sewing and am delighted to say that I have completed some projects.

Three quilts that all share similar fabrics. Here is a shaggy that is used on my sofa bed. My sister is spending time at my place so it is on that bed for now.


Another shaggy made for my mum who is in hospital.



















A multi colour square with some interesting farm theme fabric.

One of the crochet tubes for my tools.

A new crochet blanket (in progress)

....... a confetti pillow

..... crochet pillow for a friend

....... Fabric boxes

and I completed a teddy I began a while back

Green Theme

Today I thought I would continue with the green theme. I spent the earlier part of the day repotting some plants and cutting back some of the growth in my garden. The rains have turned my garden verdant but unfortunately the weeds are lush as well. The heat and the humidity sends me inside by mid morning and then I spend the rest of the day trying to keep cool.

One of my favourite greens is the border I worked on this Field of Flowers blanket.

In September I went to Italy with a group of my Italian Class students and as we climbed tucked away steps in Rome to visit an interesting church this was the view that motivated our tired legs.

A set of potholders I made for a co -worker

New covers made 2 weeks ago for my patio furniture. A variation of green ...aqua and brown

Another tini bag made by DD2

The view from one side of my home

Today after a general tidy -up of the home I sat and did some stitchery as both my sewing machines have had to go in for a service and clean. I am enjoying the gentle rhythm of hand sewing.

Behind the green door

Hello to those who may stumble to this blog.....Come in and I would love to hear from you.

My front door really needs replacing .... but I decided to sand it and give it a coat of paint. I believe it will hang around for a few more years. The colour I chose is called AMAZON QUEEN and I am pleased with the result.

Happy New Year to you all. I have not blogged for for ever as I lost interest and found other pastimes. I have decided that I will resume as this way I can keep a record of projects my daughter and I make. My daughter sewing????? Wonders will never cease! DD2 has never shown any interest in this art as she was more into acrylic and oil art. Last November she asked if I could buy her a sewing machine for her birthday. Of course... but I have to admit I was rather cautious when it came to buying this gift. Should I go all out and buy her a machine with all the bells or a reliable work horse? She came home from Uni so off we went to my local Bernina store. She made the choice at the end and talked me into buying her a Bernette. I was rather sceptical as I wanted a Bernina and not her little sister Bernette.

A few weeks later..... mamma is very proud and extremely delighted as she has taken to sewing big time. Here are some of her works... this from someone who refused to even handle a sewing needle when encouraged before this.

A tulle petticoat

A lovely little bag with zip closure

... and her first dress

She has also made a patchwork table runner and more.

I have been doing much more sewing these holidays and have taken a break from crocheting. I had been given a few packs of curtain samples years ago so have now produced a few quilts. I have only taken a photo of this one.

I have been reading some blogs that show the extreme cold in Europe as I sit here in the extreme heat. I send all of you in the freezing cold some warm sunshine.

Sewlines